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New Report: Sick Schools 2009
Healthy Child
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Last week, the Coalition for Healthier Schools released a fascinating national report, “Sick Schools 2009 ‐ America’s Continuing Environmental Health Crisis for Children”, detailing state by state assessments of the problems and opportunities facing the advancement of the EPA's priorities on children and schools. The report, with contributions from policy advocates in 20 states and Washington D.C., offers peer‐reviewed studies and compelling evidence of how polluted air inside and outside schools escalate health care costs, increase absenteeism, and reduce test scores.
Said Claire Barnett, Executive Director, Healthy Schools Network, “Children’s health and a clean environment are federal agency concerns that were not ever left to the states. This report documents that the nation’s children, compelled to be in dank, dirty, polluted schools, will not benefit from trading off breathable indoor air for a “tight” energy‐efficient schoolhouse. We commend EPA for prioritizing its complex work on school environments; Congress should support EPA as well.”
Here are some of the report's findings:
- EPA needs resources to meet congressional mandated deadlines for federal guidelines on school siting (June 2009), other environmental issues (December 2009), and to provide grants to states.
- There is a robust scientific literature in children and healthy school environments; benefits and savings from healthier occupants far outweigh savings from energy efficiencies.
- EPA has long‐standing voluntary programs on school environments.
- States have little capacity to address children’s environmental health at school.
- Despite published, accepted science, there is no systematic national state by state survey of the
conditions of schools, taking into account environmental factors that impact children.
Download and read the full report here.
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Posted by Joe Margolis Sr on 12/19/2009 at 03:06 PM
What you are doing is great! I have been trying to talk to schools about their indoor air quality for 15 years but all my effort had fallen on deaf ears. How many more children have to suffer before they (the schools) answer the bell?